NetApp uses cookies to improve and customize your online experience.

NetApp uses cookies to improve and customize your online experience.

In order to tailor our communications with you to make sure that we are addressing your specific needs and not overwhelming you with unwanted information, we use cookies to handle propensity management. A cookie is a piece of information that is stored on your computer's hard drive by your Web browser.

In order to disable the cookies you must check the box below and explicitly decline consent.

Thank You

Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Germany’s national meteorological service, is the country’s authority on weather.

No aircraft takes off the ground without first checking DWD’s weather forecasts. Emergency first responders—by road, sea, and air—depend on real-time weather data from DWD to ensure that rescue missions are completed quickly and safely. Aviation, shipping, and railway businesses use weather forecasts and warnings issued by DWD to keep business moving rain or shine. Weather warnings issued by DWD also help the public stay safe in extreme weather, such as heat waves, tornadoes, and thunderstorms. A failure to rapidly detect and warn the public of dangerous weather conditions could result in serious damage to property—even loss of life.

Around the clock, DWD’s central data center takes in feeds from an astounding number of weather data sources. These include more than 2,000 measuring stations, a network of 17 weather radar systems, numerous meteorological satellites, and approximately 200 international data sources. The data is fed into complex forecast models and accessed through NinJo, DWD’s weather visualization application. With NinJo, forecasters can create custom forecasts and warnings that combine satellite, radar, and forecast data.

To my knowledge, the NetApp All Flash FAS solution is the only solution that is both fast and flexible in this specialized field, while also being easy to administer.

Alexander Harth Head of the User Support Division, DWD

With advances in radar and satellite technologies, the data collected by DWD has grown exponentially, making it increasingly difficult to deliver the fast response times that customers need. The problem was particularly acute for the search-and-rescue pilots who depend on weather forecasts from NinJo to complete their operations safely. Retrieving the data needed for a search-and-rescue operation— including data on wind, clouds, and temperature—could take up to 15 seconds. For multiple queries, it could be even longer.

By implementing NetApp All Flash FAS, DWD has been able to reduce application response time from 15 seconds to 1 second. That empowers the forecast team to deliver crucial weather data to pilots and others in real time so that they can reach their destinations quickly and safely to save lives in emergency situations.

About this Customer

Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), the national meteorological service of Germany, is responsible for protecting the life and property of Germany’s citizens through weather and climate information. DWD issues forecasts and warnings to safeguard aviation and marine shipping and maintain public safety. The organization also represents the meteorological interests of Germany nationally and internationally, participating in such organizations as the World Meteorological Organization.